Drug Smugglers, a Plane Crash and 10 Million Dollars

19 Oct 2022 · 1 min

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In this first‑person recount, attorney Jerry Taylor describes his inaugural jury trial, which centered on a Central American marijuana smuggling ring that used a small aircraft to transport the drug from Honduras to the United States. After the smugglers switched their landing site to Mobile, Alabama, the plane crashed on take‑off, killing all but one passenger and leaving no marijuana on board. The case also involved a $10 million insurance claim. Taylor’s firm could not devise a strategy, so he took the case. He argued that the pilot lacked a commercial rating and presented an expert who testified that a commercially‑rated pilot would not have overloaded the aircraft—a key factor in the crash. This technical argument persuaded the jury, and Taylor won the case, securing the insurance payout for his client.

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I've tried many jury trials in my career, but the first one involved a Central American drug smuggling operation, a plane crash that killed all but one of the smugglers, and a $10 million insurance policy. No one in my law firm could figure out what to do with this case, so they gave it to me. 7 people out of Central Florida decided to begin smuggling marijuana out of Honduras into the United States. At the time they began, it had become too dangerous to land in Florida with a plane full of marijuana, so they began flying into Mobile, Alabama. They crashed on takeoff one night out of Mobile, and all but one of them were were killed, but there were no drugs on the plane. So at trial, I showed that the pilot did not have a commercial rating. I had an expert testify that if he had a commercial rating, it is not likely he would have overloaded the plane, which was the cause of the crash. And that's how I won my first jury trial.